A changing of the guard at Street Roots

Outside, the afternoon wind was gusting hard, branches rattling on Northwest Second Avenue. Few people were visible from their bundles of blankets. When I stopped to talk to several Street Roots vendors who stood at our doorway, preparing to go to their sales posts, they each mentioned someone faring worse than them.

It was the final week after more than seven years for Cole Merkel, who is stepping down as Street Roots’ vendor program director to become, we are proud to announce, the statewide organizer for ACLU Oregon.

It was the first day at Street Roots for 12 people and one dog named Enya, who were going through vendor orientation, which we offer on Tuesdays and Fridays to people looking for a second chance. Cole sat cross-legged on a desk, holding a bundle of newspapers, talking animatedly about some of the staples of Street Roots, the pre-eminence of nonviolence, the independence of vendors as micro-entrepreneurs who buy the paper for a quarter and sell it for a dollar, the right they have to sell newspapers on public sidewalks.

I pulled up a chair and watched. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have known that this was Cole’s last week. He sure wasn’t phoning it in, but that’s the kind of passion people bring to our space. Cole has oriented hundreds upon hundreds of people who walk in off the streets into our office. He knows the backstories, the extenuating circumstances. He’s known people who have moved from our doorway to housing. He has known too many people who died too early because that’s what the streets do. A house key is health care. His legacy is everywhere at Street Roots, from a tailor-made sales database, a health and wellness program, transportation partnerships, a Street Roots zine built from a vendor editorial committee. He’s brought zest and humanity to each interaction while fighting for systemic change – from the housing bonds to rent stabilization, and most recently as the co-chair of the homelessness workgroup for the Housing Alliance. He brought love.

Our vendor program will now be led by DeVon Pouncey, who not only works in the vendor office but also contributes writing to the paper. The vendor program is in great hands. He has worked closely with Cole, and he brings his own creativity, commitment and passion for journalism and the role it plays in changing lives. Look for DeVon’s pop-up posts on social media every Saturday. He talks with vendors at their posts, and it’s a great way to learn some of the regular places our vendors sold.

At Street Roots, everyone works very hard, because it is life-or-death circumstances for so many vendors. One vendor looked out at the snow falling and recalled sitting in a blizzard several winters ago in a schoolyard, no place to go. He is now in a shelter. “If I stayed outside, it would have killed me,” he said.

These truths are close to the work we all do at Street Roots. We are focused on sustaining our work so we can be here as long as people need a hand-up selling this newspaper. If you sign up as a recurring donor, you shore us up for the future. So many of us set up our recurring memberships through Netflix or Hulu or Apple Music. Along with maintaining a steady flow of movies or TV or music, think of a recurring donation to Street Roots – and other fabulous nonprofits – as a way to sustain social justice work.

We’re looking to increase our recurring donors by $20,000 annually in honor of our 20th anniversary this year. That means we need 83 new donors to sign up with a $20 monthly gift by setting it up at streetroots.org/donate. Let’s meet this goal!

Every week we have more people step in from the streets to try to get something together. Last week it was dozen people and a dog named Enya. This week, next week, dozens more people will walk through our doors for orientation, and likely a few dogs, too. The need out there is massive. The more we have coming in each month, the more we are consistently supported as cash flows out, paying for printing paper and rent and everything that keeps the whole beautiful enterprise running.

In the most recent pop-up post DeVon recorded, he talked with Melissa at her post at the Central library, Southwest 10th Avenue and Taylor, on Saturday. “Thank you very much for your support,” she said to Street Roots customers. “You’ve made it so us vendors can survive.”

Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots